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A Cumbrian engineering firm has been fined £12,000 after one of its workers suffered severe injuries when he was struck by a metal frame weighing nearly two tonnes.

The 21-year-old from Carlisle sustained multiple cuts and fractures to his left foot and leg. He has been unable to return to work since the incident, which happened at the factory in Kirkbride near Wigton in February last year.

Tweddle Fabrications Ltd, which trades as Tweddle Engineering, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after an investigation found the partially-constructed trailer chassis had swung out of control while being lifted by two forklift trucks.

As well as the fine, the company was ordered to pay £501 in prosecution costs after it pleaded guilty to a breach of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.

One of Cumbria's biggest employers has been fined £20,000 after an employee suffered serious injuries when his arm became trapped in machinery.

The 57-year-old broke his arm in three places when it was crushed in a tyre testing machine at Pirelli in Carlisle last year.

The firm pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act at Carlisle Magistrates Court after being prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.

It was also ordered to pay more than £4,000 in costs.

“A moment’s lapse in concentration left an employee with major injuries to his left arm because Pirelli’s management of the risks from maintenance work wasn’t good enough.

“The fault with the machine had occurred before, following previous Christmas breaks, but the company didn’t have a specific risk assessment in place to make sure it could be fixed safely.

“Although Pirelli did have written Safe Working Procedures, they were not effective because the employees were either unaware of them or weren’t following them, and no effort was made to check that the procedures were being followed.

“This incident could have been avoided if Pirelli had done more to make sure that risks were being properly assessed and its employees were following safe working practices.”

A former restaurant owner has been fined after pleading guilty to three counts of failing ot keep her kitchen clean.

Lucy Nicholson, 55, former owner of Lucy’s on a Plate, Church Street, Ambleside, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,200, after she pleaded guilty at Carlise Crown Court.

She was prosecuted after inspectors visited the premises and found the kitchen to be in violation of numerous breaches of the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006.The offences were committed between 15 July 2010 and 7 September 2010.

Evidence from the kitchen Credit: SLDC

The offences were failure to keep food premises clean and in good repair, failure to ensure food was protected and fit for human consumption and failure to keep records on how food is stored.

In summing up, Recorder Medland QC, said the kitchen was in a:

“dirty, dilapidated and uncared for state”, adding: “Over a number of years you built up a good reputation but the business had gone badly wrong. By summer 2010 the oversight you brought was gone and the result was plain to see, the state of the kitchen was very poor.”

The kitchens were found to be dirty Credit: ITV Border

South Lakeland District Council's Environmental Health Officers investigated the restaurant following two complaints from contract chefs working at the restaurant. They found dirty kitchens and a build up of grease on surfaces, food kept at the wrong temperatures with a lack of management control.

*"SLDC does not like to bring prosecutions unless it has to but in this case we had a duty to protect people visiting this restaurant. *

“Residents and visitors to the area have a right to be safe when they visit any of the wonderful restaurants and cafes we have in the area and Lucy’s on a Plate fell very short of providing a safe environment to eat.

“We would urge eating establishments to display their certificate from the National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, which our Environmental Health Officers provide. This will let people know the establishment has been rated and passed inspection.”

Lucy’s on a Plate is now under new management and was recently awarded the highest food hygiene rating of five stars.